Season 54

Lakeside Little Theatre, in affiliation with National Theatre Live, presents the HD Recording of the live production THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, by Mark Haddon and Simon Stephens.  AUGUST 25 & 26, 2018.


Captured live from the National Theatre in London, this critically acclaimed production directed by Marianne Elliot (Angels in America, War Horse) has astonished audiences around the world and has received seven Olivier and five Tony Awards®. 


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tells the story of Christopher, who at fifteen years old, has an extraordinary brain – exceptional at math but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life.  When he falls under suspicion of killing Mrs. Shears’ dog Wellington, he records each fact about the event in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of the murder.  But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.

Lakeside Little Theatre, in affiliation with National Theatre Live, presents the HD recording of the live production FOLLIES, by James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim. SEPTEMBER 29 & 30, 2018.
Sondheim’s legendary musical is staged for the first time at the National Theatre and broadcast live to cinemas. 


New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves.


Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton play the magnificent FOLLIES in this dazzling new production. Featuring a cast of 37 and an orchestra of 21, it’s directed by Dominic Cooke (The Comedy of Errors).  Beautifully staged, the show captures the glamour of the golden age of music halls and revues, with gorgeous showgirl costumes bedazzled with Swarovski crystals.  Featuring a stunning ead performance from Imelda Staunton, most recently in NT Live’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?


Winner of Academy, Tony, Grammy and Olivier awards, Sondheim’s previous work includes A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.

Lakeside Little Theatre, in affiliation with National Theatre Live, presents the HD recording of the live production YOUNG MARX, by Richard Bean & Clive Coleman.  NOVEMBER 3 & 4, 2018.


Rory Kinnear (The Threepenny Opera, Penny Dreadful, Othello) is Marx and Oliver Chris (Twelfth Night, Green Wing) is Engels, in this new comedy written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman.  


Broadcast live from The Bridge Theatre, London, the production is directed by Nicholas Hytner and reunites the creative team behind Broadway and West End hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors. 


Creditors, spies, rival revolutionary factions and prospective seducers of his beautiful wife all circle like vultures. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. But there’s still no one in the capital who can show you a better night on the piss than Karl Heinrich Marx. 


★★★★ ‘A seriously clever comedy. Riotous fun.’  - The Times 


★★★★ ‘Rory Kinnear  is on glorious form here – believably both a high-powered intellectual and a greasy-maned, emotional disaster area – in the title role in Hytner’s sharp, spry production of Young Marx.’ - Independent 

Nicola Cavendish brings her Dora and Jessie Award winning portrayal of SHIRLEY VALENTINE to Lakeside Little Theatre.  NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2018.


For over 600 performances, Nicola travelled with Shirley Valentine across Canada, after opening at the Vancouver Playhouse in 1990. 


Nicola finally decided to ‘retire’ Shirley in 2012. However, to benefit Lakeside Little Theatre’s renovation project, The Third Act, Nicola brings Shirley Valentine – a role that she has made her own – out of retirement for three performances. 


Written by the incomparable British dramatist/ screenwriter Willy Russell, this heartwarming, inspiring story brings to life an ignored and neglected Liverpool housewife who makes a break from her mediocre existence with a life-changing trip to a Greek island. 


A hilarious and uplifting comedy that proves it's never too late to live the life of your dreams.

This special Christmas program includes a delightful mixture of classical music (Mozart’s Divertimento in D Major) and traditional, popular Mexican music and Christmas carols.   DECEMBER 15, 2018.


JANUS QUARTET was formed in July 2016 under the guidance of Christopher Wilshere, with its mission to present high quality Mexican chamber music. Janus members are young, highly talented Mexican musicians with great musical futures. 


The Quartet made its debut performance at the Palacio de la Cultura y la Comunicación (PALCCO) in Guadalajara Mexico, with recent performances at Festival Cadenza, Northern Lights Festival Febrero, and Clasicos Ensembles 2.0. 


Founded by violinists Diana Carolina Laguna Rivas and Francisco Vidal Rivera Gonzalez, violist Luis Carlos Rincón Barrios, and cellist Areli Medeles Medina, the Quartet has studied with leading chamber musicians including Juan Miguel Hernandez of the Royal Academy of Music, the Gryphon Trio, and Mark Skazinetsky. 


Janus Quartet was awarded the Proyecta Traslados grant for two consecutive years. This grant provided transport to North Summer Program Orchestra in Owen Sound, Ontario.  There, as resident quartet and assistant teachers, they worked with top international musicians, including Canadian violinist Yolanda Bruno, and Western's Aaron Hodgson. They performed concerts in Owen Sound, Durham and Toronto.

Lakeside Little Theatre, in affiliation with National Theatre Live, presents the HD recording of the live production CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF by Tennessee Williams.  JANUARY 26 & 27, 2019


 Tennessee Williams’ twentieth century masterpiece Cat on a Hot Tin Roof played a strictly limited season in London’s West End in 2017. Following his smash hit production of A Streetcar Named Desire, Benedict Andrews’ ‘thrilling revival’ (New York Times) stars Sienna Miller alongside Jack O’Connell and Colm Meaney. 


On a steamy night in Mississippi, a Southern family gathers at their cotton plantation to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. The scorching heat is almost as oppressive as the lies they tell. Brick and Maggie dance round the secrets and sexual tensions that threaten to destroy their marriage. With the future of the family at stake, which version of the truth is real – and which will win out?  


★★★★ ‘A bold re-imagining … innovative and powerfully acted.’  - Sunday Times 


★★★★ ‘A brilliant, lacerating account of the play … unforgettable.’  - The Independent

In support of our Third Act Renovation, Lakeside Little Theatre is delighted to present four special performances by the clever, inventive and hilarious political comedian, WILL DURST - "Comedy for People Who Read, or Know Someone Who Does". JANUARY 31, FEBRUARY 1-3, 2019.


Acknowledged by peers and press alike as one of the premier political satirists in the country, Will Durst has put together a comedy quilt of a career, weaving together columns, books, radio and television commentaries, acting, voice overs and most especially, stand-up comedy, into a hilarious patchwork of outraged and outrageous common sense.


“Quite possibly the best political satirist working in the country today.” -The New York Times 


His abiding motto is “You can’t make stuff up like this." The New York Times calls him "possibly the best political comic in the country." Fox News agrees "he's a great political satirist," while the Oregonian hails him as a “hilarious stand-up journalist.” This former radio talk host, oyster shucker, and margarine smuggler currently writes a nationally syndicated humor column, and his scribblings have appeared in Esquire, George, the San Francisco Chronicle, National Lampoon, The New York Times and scads of other periodicals.


As reviewed by a corporate client: "Your humorous barbs hit both major political parties with equal vigor, giving everyone in the room an opportunity to laugh regardless of political persuasion." 


From another review:"You were witty, topical, perceptive, professional, creative, daring and edgy." 


Durst is a 5 time Emmy nominee; has been fired by PBS three times; told jokes in 14 countries; racked up 7 nominations for Stand-Up of the Year; and his 800+ television appearances include Letterman, HBO, Showtime, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, BBC and many more.

Lakeside Little Theatre, in affiliation with National Theatre Live, presents the HD recording of the live production JULIE, by Polly Stenham after August Strindberg. MARCH 2 - 3, 2019.


Directed by Carrie Cracknell.   Polly Stenham's 2018 reimagining of August Strindberg's 19th century classic, remains shocking and relevant in its new setting of contemporary London. 


Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, NT Live: A Streetcar Named Desire) and Eric Kofi Abrefa (The Amen Corner) feature in the cast of this brand new production, directed by Carrie Cracknell (NT Live: The Deep Blue Sea) and broadcast live from the National Theatre to cinemas. 


Julie (Vanessa Kirby) celebrates her 33rd birthday in hedonistic style, with lines of coke and excessive alcohol amidst the dull drone of endless bass. In the sleek and minimalist kitchen downstage, the maid Kristina (Thalissa Teixeira) cleans up as her fiancé, Jean (Eric Kofi Abrefa), dances with Julie while he waits to pick up her business tycoon of a father from a merger. 


Director Carrie Cracknell nicely draws out dance sequences from partygoers to create an ambience of heightened anticipation, a search for ecstasy laced with a sense of foreboding tragedy. 


'Provocative and profound, Carrie Cracknell's direction is astonishing.' – The Stage


'Vanessa Kirby is sensational as Julie.' – Financial Times

Lakeside Little Theatre, in affiliation with National Theatre Live, presents the HD recording of the live production THE MADNESS OF GEORGE III, by Alan Bennett.   APRIL 6 - 7, 2019


Directed by Adam Penford, this multi-award-winning drama, The Madness of George III, is National Theatre Live’s first ever broadcast from Nottingham Playhouse. 


Written by one of Britain’s best-loved playwrights Alan Bennett (The History Boys, The Lady in the Van), this epic play was also adapted into a BAFTA Award-winning film following its premiere on stage in 1991. 


The cast of this new production includes Olivier Award-winners Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Wolf Hall, NT Live:Coriolanus) in the title role, and Adrian Scarborough (Gavin and Stacey, Upstairs Downstairs, After the Dance).  


It’s 1786 and King George III is the most powerful man in the world. But his behavior is becoming increasingly erratic as he succumbs to fits of lunacy. With the King’s mind unravelling at a dramatic pace, ambitious politicians and the scheming Prince of Wales threaten to undermine the power of the Crown, and expose the fine line between a King and a man.
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